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Session #89 – Beer in History

Time once again to tackle the Session, a.k.a. Beer Blogging Friday: a monthly opportunity for beer bloggers from around the world to get together and write from their unique perspective on the same topic. Each month, a different beer blogger hosts The Session, chooses a topic, and creates a round-up that lists all of the participants.

So, I only saw it to be fitting that I choose the topic of Beer in History…

At many points in history you can look back and find alcohol intertwined. A lot of times that form of alcohol is beer. Beer is something that connects us with the past, our forefathers as well as some of our ancestors. I want this topic to be a really open-ended one. So, it should be fairly easy to come up with something and participate…

Do you want to write about an important beer event with great historical significance? Famous figures that were brewers? Have you visited an establishment that has some awesome historic value? Maybe a historically-themed brewpub? I wouldn’t be surprised to even see a few posts on Prohibition. It doesn’t really matter when it comes to history!

The West End Brewery was founded in 1886 by Thomas Albert Lanfear, along with some other ex-Bulimba Brewing colleagues, on the corner of Montague Road and Merivale Street.

The intersection today is home to empty land which is soon to be a block of flats, the Queensland Theatre Company and Parmalat

Of Brisbane’s breweries, West End by far copped the worst damage.

The brewery in 1896, after recovering from the floods. I assume it looks pretty similar to the pre-1893 version.

West End Brewery, during the ’93 floods, is the tall building just slightly left of centre

After the flood waters receded in 1893

The newspapers of the day made note of the damage suffered by the local landmark.

It’s maybe no surprise what happens when a brewery is smashed by a wall of water: some of the stock is washed away. And then found by enterprising individuals.

That seems hyperbolic.

Beer, or perhaps more accurately alcohol, as the coping mechanism for people in distress. Having had a box seat for the 2011 floods – by far less severe than 1893 but much more expensive to clean up – I know that in the face of a massive natural disaster, there would have been nothing better than sitting on the banks of the swollen river, enjoying the post-rain sun and supping a beer or twelve because if apocalyptic floods are going to take your home, at least you can get some free booze out of it and deal with the consequences tomorrow.

Oh.

Ohhhhhh.

Of course, sometimes the consequences find you today.

West End Brewery did resume brewing later in 1893 and went on to become very successful locally before mysteriously shutting up shop in 1913.

Unfortunately, free beer did not float down the river in 1974 or 2011.